Aria's Bodyguard
by Shenezia1
Summary: Aria's been trying to change the way she runs things on Omega since Nyreen's passing but old habits can be hard to kill. A new girl joins Aria's guard and she's made it clear that she'll protect Aria, even if it kills her. Will this newbie help Aria change the way she runs Omega for the better? Or will she make her return to her old ways? Image belongs to Brinx-II on DeviantArt.
1. Chapter 1 Looking Death In The Face

The cover image for my story belongs to Brinx-II you can find more of his awesome work on deviantart. Enjoy the story!

**Raven's P.O.V.**

We'd received intel that the Razors, a small merc gang run by a vorcha named Grog was going to attempt to dethrone Aria to get more money and better resources for their business. The Razors wore black, green, and white colored armor with sharp blades on their shoulders, arms, and legs. If these guys ever get in close enough to an opponent they can rip them to shreds in hand to hand combat. If a person was thrown over their shoulders the blades would rip a person from their chest down to their hips. The other blades on their arms and legs were all on the outside parts of their body. With an arm all you needed to do was slash a person by back handing them. The leg blades are hardly ever used so most people thought they were decoration, but an experienced fighter knows that if someone ever tripped and fell down in front of a Razor they could be cruel enough to jump on top of you and cut you up instead of being somewhat merciful and just shoot you point blank. So with the intel we had received we swiftly started to plan and prepare for battle.

Aria saw no need to dispatch them before their date of assassination, she wanted to see the look of surprise and fear on their faces when they realized that Aria knew they were coming and that she wouldn't be the one dying. Personally I think she was just bored and the idea of a confrontation excited her.

So we prepared to have a fight in Afterlife, Aria saw to it that breakable objects were removed two days before the "assassination in her honor" would take place.

The fight was loud, and abrupt when it happened, at least for the bystanders, but Bray suggested halfway through our gun fight that we relocate where there were less civilians. He'd never admit it but he didn't want any unnecessary causalities. He said we should relocate so Afterlife wouldn't have bullet holes everywhere. So we left Afterlife through the back entrance.

Bray told me to release a biotic blast at the enemy while he pulled our guys out. I nodded in response and tried my best to block out the sounds around me as I gathered up two balls of black matter and threw them out in a wave of blue and black colors. The mercs were picked off of their feet and fell back into tables and couches. One guy was unlucky enough to hit one of the walls that held some rather sharp artwork, and never did come down to rejoin the fight.

With our men out and the Razors scattered I pulled out and went after my team. We led the mercs to the lower wards of Omega and continued our fight there. We ended up in one of the old shut down mine shafts, I could tell because only the backup lights were on and there was no machinery activity going on at all down here.

The dust finally settled on the rocky walls now that the pumps didn't shake the dirt and the atmosphere didn't feel heavy with all the activity that used to go on here with the machinery and the people all moving about. One of the guys on Bray's squad had actually laughed once we had bunkered down behind some rocks.

His name was Hypax, a young turian who came to Omega looking for adventure instead of taking military orders from the hierarchy. He's twenty-five, skin is brown, and has the typical full face Kepler Verge tattoo that Grizz has; he's another turian on our team. Hypax also has blue eyes. His training and upbringing had been all about being part of a squad and being in fire fights so he quickly got bored with doing nothing on the station and he sought out Bray to join his crew. He wanted to get back in the environment without having to deal with diplomatic military codes that the Blue Suns normally use since most of the Blue Suns are composed of turians, but they do have humans, batarians, salarians, and others that join up too. The Blue Suns are known for being popular with ex-military turians though so that's why there are some formalities.

Bray isn't too big on formalities, he just wants the job done righ so Hypax wanted in on the action without the stiff crap. Bray let him on a year ago, he had been the newbie before me and he says he's glad I joined up cuz now he won't be the newbie anymore. I think he was glad that I joined though cuz we were both the youngest on the team and could relate to one another. Either that or have a good time joking around, I'm not sure which.

I'm the youngest of the group, the only female, and to top it off the only human in the squad. I'm nineteen and everybody who works in AfterLife teases me about it. They say I must have come looking for a job here on the station just so I could drink because no bar in Council run space would serve me alcohol till I was twenty-one, but I'm here for different reasons.

Hypax had laughed at our surroundings though and I'm curious to know why so I raised an eyebrow at him, "What's so funny?"

He took a shot at one of Grog's men and nailed the guy in the chest; he went down like a stone. Looks like his kinetic barriers don't have much juice.

"I used to work here. Noisy as hell, thought it would never get quiet. I like the way this place turned out though, you can actually hear yourself think."

I laughed and returned fire. A Razor thought he was tough shit and ran right at me, what an idiot. I squeezed off a slug from my pistol and he went down, his yell cut off just before he hit the dirt and I shook my head at his actions. Must have been a new guy trying to prove himself, and look where it just landed him.

Hypax shot another merc and gripped my shoulder to pull me back down into cover, which was reckless on my part. I should have been paying attention. "Hey get down!"

He gestured at the Razor I just finished killing, "Looks like he wasn't too smart."

I nodded my agreement and took the head off of a vorcha, but they regenerate fast so I fired a few more rounds and ripped his body in half with my biotics. Hypax gave me this look like _Holy shit could he get anymore dead?_ I shrugged in reaction to his look, I don't need a vorcha to get back up later on during the fight so he can shoot me for firing at him.

"I'm starting to think this whole group isn't too smart."

"Well of course they're not. Everybody knows you're not supposed to fuck with Aria."

Bray ducked as a Razor shot at him and he returned fire, "Not much left of this group. Let's hurry this up. Aria wants Grog saved for last so watch your aim."

Hypax and I did as we were told and helped finish off the last of the Razors. Aria then gave Grog a speech of how she knew about his attack and let him in on a secret. Today's assault wouldn't end in her death, it would end in his. I was looking for strays with Hypax and the men when I noticed something.

Aria was in the middle of killing Grog when I got the feeling. She was standing on an old dock port and she shot him in the head, broke the vorcha's neck with her biotics, and for good measure stabbed him in his side; _then_ she let him fall down into the dark, rocky abyss below. Damn, talk about murder with a vengeance.

I saw a glint in my peripheral vision, it was armor and it was moving. I heard the gentle click of a gun cocking and I immediately raised my pistol, "Live one!"

I jumped forward toward the docking port and biotically pushed Aria back with my other hand. She yelled, "What the hell do you think you're doing!" I twisted my body so my back faced the drop off and I took a slug right into the shoulder. I fired a round right back at him and nailed him straight through the head. _What the hell is she yelling at me for?! I'm trying to do my damn job._

In that moment everything seemed to slow down and I looked back at Aria's face. My boss usually had a cold, amused, sneer on her face, but in this moment I saw Aria's lips part in a small silent O and I saw something in her eyes.

I think she was surprised at my actions, and maybe a little scared that I took a shot for her, but why? That's what she hired me for. I knew I was probably going to die now, I was too close to the edge of the platform and the momentum from that vorcha's shot was enough to throw me over.

Then reality snapped back into place and Aria's face was gone. Now sheer rock zoomed past my eyes. I was determined to live though and I willed my biotics to slow down my descent, hopefully I could slow down enough to grab something, _anything_, to keep me from falling to my death.

My biotics flickered and eventually flared a bit brighter against the brown rock. Amidst the rapidly changing rock formation I saw a break in the cliff and I slammed my arm into a small, jagged hole.

I continued to go down for a second but I soon stopped as my arm broke inside the rock formation and the sudden jerk caused my shoulder to pop out of its socket.

I screamed in pain as my body hung limp off of the rocky overhang and I swung a few more times back and forth from my now dislocated shoulder.

I squeezed my eyes open a tiny bit to make sure that my arm was firmly embedded into the rock and the pain finally was too much; I passed out.

**Aria's P.O.V.**

I smirked as I broke Grog's neck with my biotics. It was like stepping on a salarian hutch of eggs. Their shells are hard enough to make that crunching sound but once past the shell everything is gooey. I took out my omni-blade and stabbed him in his side for good measure, vorcha usually aren't very smart but they have a nasty habit of regenerating so I wanted to be sure he'd die. With that done I let him fall into the oldest part of the station. I stood there relishing in my glory of crushing rebellion with my power and I noticed that Raven, a young female human I had just hired as one of my guards, seemed to go stiff.

Raven had been a bouncer at Afterlife before becoming one of my guards. She was a bit young in my opinion but she proved herself capable at Afterlife so I had her hired. Her job had been to make sure none of the customers got too fresh with the entertainers.

She was tall for a human woman, not the tallest I've seen but she was tall for her kind. She had a short spiky haircut and green eyes that said you don't scare me. She was also very fit, a few of the dancers would talk about her figure and say how they wouldn't mind her checking them out with that body of hers.

She did a good job of keeping an eye on customers and her presence was normally enough to make the men wary when she was around so incidents didn't happen often.

I was about to open my mouth and ask her if she was sure she had the stomach for this job when everything around me slowed down. Raven lunged, drawing her gun up and I narrowed my eyes. Was she going to shoot me? In front of all my men? In front of Bray?

I could see Bray was bringing his gun up to stop her and I coldly barked, "What the hell do you think you're doing?!" I raised my hand so I could fling her off to the side with my biotics. Just before I could though Raven jumped past me and pushed me back with her own biotics, and Bray lowered his gun in surprise.

At the same time she pushed me I saw chips of her armor break off and blood splattered from her left shoulder. Raven spun around having her back face the drop off. She lined up her shot and released one slug. She killed a vorcha I hadn't noticed. He would have assassinated me if she hadn't jumped forward in time. She was trying to save me, not kill me. That almost never happens. I snapped my mouth shut but then it opened again of its own accord.

The look she gave me as her body began to fall off the docking pad reminded me of Nyreen all those years ago when she took out those adjacents in front of Afterlife that were attacking civilians.

I could feel a scream forming in the back of my throat but it never quite came out of my mouth. The message in Raven's eyes said _I'm sorry but I'll do whatever it takes to keep you alive. _

Then she was gone, her body fell off the edge of the platform and the world was back in real time once more.

Bray shouted an order, "Go and make sure there aren't any more of those bastards. You! Go and grab a medic and stand by!"

I grabbed Bray's wrist hard, "We don't need a medic and we're going after her."

He held my gaze briefly and then we both ran to the nearest hover car. He opened the doors and jumped into the driver's seat and I closed the doors after me. Raven's armor should have already released medi-gel around the wound she had and sealed it off so nothing else could spread. If Raven somehow survived this fall I would bring her to Solous Clinic.

We went forward and down past the old dock that I tossed Grog's body into, known as Dead Man's Jump, I remembered too late that it had earned that reputation for a reason.

I quickly began scans for Raven's body on my omni-tool, "She's 300 meters below us."

Bray in turn sped up and my stomach turned over uneasily. Plenty of people have died doing their jobs for me and it had never bothered me before. But after Nyreen's death I had become more sensitive to the people on this station, enough to make see to it that everyone now received basic food rations. But beyond that nothing much has changed.

Raven's face flashed before my eyes and I remembered one night a few turians had come into Afterlife and they were watching several of the girls perform. They tipped well but made disgusting comments about what they wanted to do with the girls. The entertainers have heard it all before so it didn't faze them.

I had lost interest and was going to talk with Bray when I heard Noleena, one of my best dancers, gasp in pain. I spun my head around to see a turian had pulled her down off of her platform and was trying to get fresh with her, his pals whooped in enthusiasm.

It was Raven's shift though that night so he wouldn't get very far. She grabbed the offender's arm and brought it up behind his back and hissed, "That's enough!"

I saw the other girls stop dancing and anxiously all watched as Noleena quickly scrambled away and got back up on her platform.

"You can look but don't touch unless you're invited. Got it?" Raven's voice was low and lethal, the music was loud and booming but I heard every word.

The turian's buddies didn't seem to appreciate her words and I could see a brawl was ready to break out. I turned to signal for Bray and his men to break it up but to my surprise I didn't need to.

The girls all got down from their poles and platforms to surround the group of males and two of the girls got in between Raven and the turian who had attacked Noleena.

I smirked and got up. "It looks like you boys pissed off my girls. I suggest you all leave before someone gets hurt."

The turians realized that my presence graced the club that evening and they fled like the roaches they were. Noleena thanked Raven for watching out for her and she smiled, tipping her head in acknowledgement.

"No problem Noleena. You guys didn't need to back me up either but you did anyway."

The girls all smiled and replied that she owed them drinks after their shift for it and the night went on as usual. I found out later that Raven had walked Noleena home to make sure she was okay and the girls got jumped by the same turian.

Raven had gotten pretty banged up but she kept Noleena safe and kicked the turian's ass for his mistake of following them. When I caught wind of what happened I saw to it that he was dealt with permanently, no one messes with my dancers. The girls informed me that Raven had a lot of bruises so if she seemed to be a bit slow and a bit spacey not to ride her for it.

The girls were always a tight knit group, that's what happens when you're in that kind of business but they had never taken a real shine to the bouncers before.

So I had Bray check out her history and later out of amusement I offered her a deal to work with Bray and his men outside of Afterlife. After a few missions Bray suggested that Raven be one of my new private body guards.

We tested her skills and she passed, with flying colors. She had gone off world for several missions with Bray after that in my name to tend business and tended to my person a few times before we learned about this small insignificant gang that wanted to overthrow me.

I never realized it up to this point, but I was beginning to enjoy Raven's company. She was a young, smart, outgoing, charismatic, and powerful human. She had some of my fire, and it reminded me of my younger days.

Now all of that was gone within the blink of an eye. She's dead because a vorcha managed to not be detected by my people long enough for him to squeeze off a shot at me.

I was startled out of my mournful thoughts by my omni-tool's alarm. Raven's body wasn't too far from us now. I wanted to retrieve her and have a proper ceremony for her burial, there wasn't much of a chance that she would survive the fall.

"Thirty degrees northwest." My voice was colder than usual.

Bray looked at me with concern. He knew I was trying to hide my despair with my bravado, but he didn't say anything; one of the perks about Bray is he doesn't bring up subjects he knows not to touch, or he knows it doesn't need to be said out loud for it to still be recognized.

He just adjusted our heading and then he swore softly. "Son of a bitch."


	2. Chapter 2 Vagrancy

The vehicle lurched to a stop ten feet below a rock outcropping and I looked up to see her body hanging limp and uselessly from her left arm. She wasn't laying at the bottom of this chasm, interesting. I threw open the doors and Bray checked her body.

I furrowed my brow in puzzlement while Bray scratched his head and said, "She should have been at the bottom of this shaft. Why is her body here?"

Bray began to check her body and pulled back his hand so fast that it looked like he had been burned by her.

"What's wrong Bray?"

He gripped my arm tight, "Aria! She's still alive!"

My heart almost stopped at his words and I tried to get a grip on myself as I barked, "Then get her down!"

He let me go and started to examine her body more closely. "Her left arm's jammed in that hole, probably broken, and her shoulder's dislocated. Lucky son of a bitch."

I shook my head, if she was alive then it was because of her wits, not because of sheer dumb luck.

"That's not luck Bray. She slowed herself down with her biotics; she did a terrible job of it, but it was just enough for her to stop."

At that moment Nyreen's face flashed before my eyes with those _things_ surrounding her. Her eyes bore right into mine in that last final moment, telling me silently not to let her die in vain… I shook my head to chase the images away and cleared my throat before I spoke.

"Let's get her out of there."

Bray nodded, "Right. Good thing she's out cold, otherwise this would be much more painful."

I wrapped my arms around her hips and pushed her up to relieve the pressure on her left shoulder and Bray swiftly pulled her arm out of the jagged hole in the rock. Raven groaned and I gently laid her down into the back seat of the vehicle while Bray closed the doors.

As he flew us back up to the rest of my people, I glanced back over my shoulder and gently brushed my hand over the left side of her face.

When I withdrew my hand I left a smear on her face. I narrowed my eyes and inspected my now bloody fingers. "Hurry Bray. We need to get her checked out at Solous Clinic."

Raven's P.O.V.

I sat up fast and my shoulder screamed at the movement, which drew a hiss from me that turned into a groan as my head swam. I began to fall backward and a strong pair of arms supported my head and back, taking care to not bump my shoulder.

"Take it easy Raven." Said a low, sultry voice and my eyes flew open in recognition.

The scene before me was unfamiliar, I was in a very big, tastefully decorated, room. I tried to pull back to look at my boss but she was having none of it.

"Raven calm down, you're safe. We're in my quarters."

Her grip was gentle but firm as she held my head and back to keep me from falling back onto whatever it was that I had been resting on.

"I'm alive…" I was going to say something else but my head still felt woozy so I just stopped talking.

Aria put some space between us and she nodded with a serious look on her face, and a slight frown on her mouth.

"Yes, you're alive."

I blinked feeling sluggish, my shoulder didn't seem to hurt anymore and dimly I realized my arm was in a sling, and a cast was covering my arm from wrist to elbow.

"How did you find me?"

Aria gently laid me back against a pillow to support me and then stood up to pace back and forth in front of her fireplace, I noticed as she paced that I was laid out on a very large couch.

Aria had her arms crossed as she walked back and forth, the fireplace casting a contrast of light and dark across her face; it was as if the fire itself was projecting Aria's exact makeup as a person.

The light contrast to me looked like a symbolic form of ying yang, except for the part where Aria was definitely a yang trying to learn how to become a ying. Her voice was smooth and lethal as she spoke.

"When I hire my people I get their armor, weapons, and their body implanted with a tracer. Since you're incredibly new you don't have a body implant but luckily your armor and weapons have tracers, so I followed your signal with my omni-tool. Bray and I took a transport down into the old mine deposit shaft and found you dangling by your arm in a crevice."

Aria turned on her heel to face me, the fire cast a fiery halo along the silhouette of her body.

"You saved my life Raven, the least I could have done was recover your body and hold a proper ceremony for you."

I cleared my throat to cover my surprise at Aria's sentiment, not that she would ever admit to such emotions existing in her body.

"Well…thanks, for coming after me Aria."

My boss inclined her head to acknowledge my thanks and began to walk around the room, running her hand over some shelves, a table, and a case filled with what I assumed were pieces of art. She faced me again and sat down on the couch next to my feet.

She looked me directly in the eyes and said, "I'm not used to having a life debt to someone. Anyone who has ever taken a hit for me has either been killed on impact or died a few hours later."

I started to tap my fingers on the couch, not many people could unsettle me but Aria T'Loak is a unique exception and I'm still trying to figure out why that is.

She continued, "- So that makes what I'm about to ask you a very special circumstance. I would like to keep you as part of my guard, but I understand if this brush with death would make you think otherwise."

She glanced away for the next part, "If you don't wish to stay I will make sure you have a secured job waiting for you, wherever that may be; whether it's on station or not. So I'll give you some time to think about it, this is a very difficult position for you I'm sure. Take all the time you need."

"I appreciate your little speech Aria but it's gonna take more than a bullet and a tumble off a platform to make me leave this job."

Aria's lips quirked up and a mischievous look glittered in her eyes making her seem even more lethal than usual. "Good, because it's hard to find people who are willing to take a bullet for me rather than put the bullet in me."

I snorted at her comment and took in my surroundings. The room was made up of blacks, greys, and white colors. Everything was clean and a bit sterile, like the apartment was being put on display instead of being lived in.

I looked around and wished that I had a place to call my own let alone something of this magnitude.

Aria watched as I took everything in, "Enjoying the view Raven?"

I cleared my throat to hide my embarrassment but red was already coloring my cheeks.

"Not used to seeing a view like this, that's all. So what drugs am I on?"

Aria smirked at me.

"One of the doctors at Solous Clinic gave you medi-gel in addition to pain killers. The vorcha who tried to shoot me made his own ammunition. Not only is it designed to shatter on impact, but it's meant to use explosive chemicals to burn the victim when it makes contact with another object. If it had been my head, I would have had half my skull scorched and a good chunk of bone taken off. With that said, your shoulder was shot off but it went all the way through and you suffered first and second degree burns but your suit put out most of the flames. The doctor says you have a good chance of not needing synthetic skin to be grafted onto your shoulder and that your shoulder will have scars both from the shot and from the burns."

I looked down at my left shoulder, it was wrapped so much that it may as well have been a cast itself. Aria stood up from the couch and sauntered over to a leather chair across from me on the either side of the coffee table that sat in between us.

Her gaze swept up and down me, "You're going to be out of commission for a while Raven. I'm ordering you to be off duty until one of my doctors says you are fit to return. I'll call Bray, when he gets here, tell him to take you home."

My gaze had been on her the whole time until she brought up having a home. I lowered my gaze and my jaw clenched slightly, next thing I know Aria's hand was gripped around my jaw and my eyes were brought up to hers. _Ah crap._

"Where are you staying Raven?"

Her voice was low and demanding, it reminded me of a drill sergeant I saw once on the Citadel who was yelling at his recruits that every shot that was ever fired would be made to count, if you didn't have a lock on a target you did not fire or an innocent person could die due to that soldier's rash actions.

Aria's grip tightened on my jaw and her look grew even sharper. I took in a deep breath; I don't like telling people about my living situation simply because I feel guilty and ashamed by it. So I let my lungs fill up with as much air as they can hold and let it out slowly as I looked right into Aria's eyes.

"I'm a vagrant _ma'am_."

My voice cracked when I said ma'am and I mentally kicked myself for letting my emotions get the better of me. She blinked in surprise and let go of my jaw. "I see."

Vagrants take up space, air, and black credits in the Terminus Systems and Omega's economic system took both black credits and clean credits. Money means everything on this station and if I "bum" off of businesses and don't pay back my share into the system through rent or major sales then I'm taking precious resources and telling people more or less to fuck off cuz I think I'm better than them; at least that's how a lot of business owners, including merc groups would see it and that makes me fair game to have a bullet in my head.

I didn't move, this was an awkward position for me. I've never told anyone that I was homeless before and no one really suspected because I had good armor and weapons. I normally didn't dwell on my living situation much, I would just plan for the short term and long term.

The short term was making sure I got enough to eat and find a safe place to sleep. As far as long term went I became a bouncer at Afterlife so I could make money to sustain myself and save whatever I needed to pay the cheapest place to rent, I had a few more paychecks to go in order to get a somewhat decent place on the station when Aria gave me a proposition.

The offer was to do a test run with Bray and his crew on a few missions, both on and off station. If I did well with Bray's group I could become part of the crew permanently. It sounded like a good opportunity and I agreed to do it, I didn't think that Aria would have a big catch in the deal however.

The catch was I would do the trial period without being paid, so I'm still free loading off the batarian running a kiosk near Afterlife. If I make his sales look good I get a bunk in his back room, I'm on my own for everything else.

Aria straightened back up and continued to examine me with her demanding eyes. I could feel my heart pounding in my ears, it was loud and it made my head hurt a bit, I kept my eyes on the floor and refused to look at her.

I didn't want to see Aria's judgment and anger in her eyes, regardless of what I may have done for her no one likes a vagrant.

I felt gentle pressure on my knee and I looked up in surprise, the only person to ever touch me like that had died a long time ago. Aria's face wasn't sharp, cold, angry, or even disgusted; instead she seemed surprised, in fact she looked startled.

I shifted so my feet were on the floor and I sat upright. I felt weird just lying about on a couch in front of my boss. I made eye contact with her briefly, but I looked away after a second or two. I never thought I would be in Aria's house for anything unless I was guarding her; and this was not that kind of situation.

"You can stay here Raven. For as long as you need. I have a spare room."

I opened my mouth to say…. I didn't know what to say. My head felt funny from the pain killers, I survived an assassination shot and fell off a mining platform that should have killed me, and now my boss was acting like a person who might actually give a damn about what happens to me.

"Thank you."

My voice sounded somewhat strangled and cracked so I cleared my throat and tried again but Aria held up her hand.

"You don't need to explain. Just stay here, rest up, and heal."

With that, she got up and motioned me to follow her. I slowly stood up, my head still felt woozy but I took a few cautious steps and followed her down a white and grey boarded hallway. She opened a sliding door and tapped it to get my attention.

"This door is bullet proof, you'll find everything here is bullet proof. My walls can't be scanned unless I give access and all the food I have here is checked multiple times for poison and tracers. Just in case."

She gave me a smirk and I chuckled at that last part. I looked past Aria's shoulder and saw the sleek looking bed that could be pushed into the wall. The desk and drawers were all pull outs just like the bed. I took a step further into the room and felt padding under my feet. I raised an eyebrow at Aria, "Isn't padding a bit much? The bullet proof walls should cover it."

Aria leaned against the doorframe and gave me a mischievous smile.

"This is my place and I'm letting you stay here. If you're going to question my padded floors you can find somewhere else to bunk."

Aria walked past me and I thought _good point, better shut up. _She pushed in all the slide out pieces of furniture back into the walls and stepped on a section of the floor. It clicked and raised up, it was a punching bag.

"I can turn this entire place into a high security bunker at the drop of a dime. Or I can use this space to train in."

She typed some things into her omni-tool and the white circular punching bag lit up a bright red. Aria threw a round house kick at it then landed and lifted her rear leg to do a front head kick, next she threw a double hand knife strike and then dropped to the floor.

The top section of the punching bag shot out and had tried to hit Aria square in the face. She had gotten back up but was still crouched low to the ground. A section of the wall came out and tried to sweep Aria off her feet but she nimbly jumped up and drove her foot down into the sweeper, making it retract and seal back up.

With that Aria turned the program off with her omni-tool and pulled out the bed again. I stood there in the door with my mouth hanging open and all I could think was, _Holy shit she has the place totally rigged! _Aria chuckled and pulled out a section of the wall to create a chair and sat down.

"Are you really that surprised that I can fight?"

I sat down on the bed and shook my head in response.

"No I know you can fight. I saw the vids from when you and Shepard were taking back the station. I was impressed by your biotic, really impressed- My jaw was hanging open cuz I can't believe you have this place rigged so well. I understand the bullet proof material and the poison scanners, but tracers? The fact this entire place can be used as a base of operations or training facility? Shit."

Aria laughed at me. She laughed so hard she threw her head back and was holding her stomach. When she finally stopped laughing she shook her head and smiled at me.

"I like your honesty. Most people wouldn't dare talk to me like that and normally I prefer it that way; less chance of being crossed."

She leaned back into her chair and gave me a meaningful look that said _so remember who you're talking to._ The bed I was sitting on was very comfortable and I still felt a little bit sleepy but I had a question. Why would Aria have a spare bedroom?

"Why do you have a spare room?"

Aria's eyes narrowed a bit and her body tensed up.

"Came with the place."

_Yeah right _I thought. She has so much money she could design this place and I would bet every single piece of equipment that I own that she didn't just "find" this place. I wouldn't push the subject on why she had a second room but that line was complete bullshit.

I shook my head and ticked my reasons off my fingers, "You have bullet proof material, you can shape any of these rooms any way you want, and you have this whole place synced up to your omni-tool. There's no way you just found this and bought it. You have a lot of money Aria. I would bet an arm and a leg that you designed this whole place."

I must have struck a nerve cuz Aria's fingers curled into her palms and she was making fists. _Shit…_ I slowly positioned myself so I was on the edge of the bed, if she was going to attack me I'd be ready. It doesn't take much for Aria to issue an order for someone to die and it didn't matter what her reasons were; people just did as they were told and shot em. If I was lucky I could clear the door before she threw her biotics at me, but like I said earlier she can fight. And boy does she fight dirty. _I'm fucked._

She glared at me but she visibly took a deep breath in and closed her eyes. Some time passed and she slowly breathed out.

"I don't need to explain my home designs to you."

She stood up abruptly and stiffly started to head for the door. I gave an inner sigh, damn that was close. I need to watch what I say; must be these damn drugs. I watched her start heading for the door and I saw something pass over her face. It was similar to a look I had seen once before when a drunk customer at Afterlife said that Nyreen was the only hero Omega has ever head besides Archangel. Aria had looked sad, slightly pained, and at the same time I saw a look of old love. I had heard that Aria and Nyreen had once been together, but they parted ways. I could see how it wouldn't; given Aria and Nyreen's personalities are _way _too different.

I compared this look from what I saw last time. She looked sad for sure, but it appeared that what I said had made her think of an old memory too. Perhaps this _had_ been Nyreen's old room. If that was the case then no wonder she got so pissed.

Aria saw me balancing on the edge of the bed and she had a cold smirk on her face.

"You can relax Raven. If I wanted you killed I'd have Bray take you outside. I don't need blood stains on my carpet."

She walked over to where I was sitting and I pushed myself further away from her. I don't like getting people too close to me if I don't know them real well and Aria is not exactly someone you want to have up close in your space. It usually means you'll be shot, ripped apart, and stabbed before being thrown off a cliff. Her smirk got even bigger and she stretched her arm to open a compartment behind me that held bedding, blankets, and a fluffed up pillow.

"Here."

Aria gave me the bedding and headed towards the door.

"-and Raven, I appreciate what you did for me yesterday, but that doesn't mean you get to ask 21 questions. If there's anything else you need just let me or Bray know."

I nodded my thanks and cleared my throat.

"Yes ma'am."

Aria dismissed my comment and left.

**Aria's P.O.V.**

I left the bedroom I put Raven up in and sighed once I got into my own personal chambers. I sat down in front of my private terminal and typed in my password for the month.

I called up years' worth of photographs and videos. _Why do you have a spare bedroom? _I pulled up the picture I had taken of Liselle and I when she was born.

She looked so small and fragile then but the truth was that it was _I _who had been the fragile one that day, not her. I was a woman who had grabbed Omega from Patriach's claws and allowed him to survive to tell the tale on how I had defeated him. I was powerful, dangerous, and lethal to the point that I turned Patriach into a broken krogan, a very hard thing to do but I had indeed done it. When Liselle had been born though I wasn't any of those things.

I was a new mother who stared at her beautiful child in awe. I was in awe because despite all the things I was capable of doing to others there was nothing that could have prepared me for what I felt when my daughter was born. I felt pure joy and experienced a lightness I had never felt before. And when Liselle gripped my finger in her little hand I felt a wall just break within me and all kinds of emotions flooded into me. Love, adoration, being in awe of bringing life into the world, and absolute shock that a being who couldn't even feed herself had managed to tame me for a moment and bring me to my knees.

That day had changed my life forever. I went through a few more photos of Liselle growing up. Her first birthday, first tooth that fell out, that day I bought Liselle a jumper she just _had _to have.

My heart ached and I closed my eyes. I missed Liselle. Despite the fact I had to keep her hidden and make her live a life of secrecy and danger, she had been a little ray of light in my very dark and dangerous world. Then I pulled up footage of Shepard killing Kai Leng. My hands clenched and I zoomed in closer as I watched Shepard deflect his sword and brought his own omni-blade out to skewer him like the low life dog he was.

I hadn't known it at the time but it was Kai Leng who had killed my daughter and I was very happy now about the fact the filthy bastard was dead, but I wished so badly that I had been the one to kill him and not Shepard.

I released a breath I hadn't known I had been holding and I made my hands unclench. If I wasn't able to kill the bastard though I was glad Shepard had been able to do it for me. I exited out of my terminal and sat back into my chair.

It's been almost two hundred years since Shepard took out Leng but every once in a while I still see Liselle and Nyreen around. I rubbed my forehead and tried to ease the headache I had coming on.

I haven't thought about Liselle in a long time. It still hurts to think about her. A mother never gets over the death of their child. The concept was so….putrid. A parent _never _should have to outlive their child. But there's nothing I can do about it now, so there's no point in dwelling on it.

I looked at the clock and noticed six hours had actually passed since I left Raven's new sleeping quarters. I smiled a little at the thought of Raven. I find her amusing, but I can't have her questioning me so I need to keep an eye on her. No one has had the nerve to ask me about my private life or question me in hundreds of years, I didn't like it.

_Why do you have a spare bedroom? _I pulled up the security cameras and looked at the room Raven was sleeping in. The room had been Liselle's and I haven't really been in there since….. the day she moved out and again when I discovered she had been murdered.

Raven tossed in her sleep and muttered something but I wasn't paying too much attention to the screen. Instead I was thinking about the events that took place the other day.

The way Raven threw herself in front of me, it looked like she didn't have any second thoughts about getting shot; she just did it. Her actions were admirable, but what were her reasons? My boys have been guarding me for years, I command loyalty and experience from them. But not Raven, she was brand new, this was just to give her a trial run and along the way she ended up in the cross fire of an assassination.

But why? I drummed my fingers on the desk as I thought about this. She seems to have some ethics like Nyreen did, perhaps she was just being honorable. Nyreen was never a gun for hire though, and it looks like Raven may not be either. Nyreen also never wanted civilians to get caught up in mercenary drama nor did she want life to be wasted, if the life was a good one. Did Raven jump in front of the bullet because it was her job or because she thought I was worth saving?

That question could only be answered in time by letting Raven stay on as a guard. Then another comment Raven made entered my mind, _I'm a vagrant ma'am. _Raven most likely doesn't have any money and the kid is doing a trial run for me. She's certainly proven she can handle the job.

I tilted my chair back and scoffed at that thought, of course she'd proven it! She took a shot that was meant for me. Her duty couldn't be questioned, or her skills, so I suppose that means she should get paid now.

I picked up a pad and sent Bray a note to put Raven down on the rolls for when she gets back on her feet. He acknowledged my order and made a note of it in his files.

I set the pad back down and my thoughts drifted back to Liselle. I was glad at the way she had turned out. To be honest I couldn't have asked for anything more. I may not have planned for Liselle being born, but once she came into the world I made sure she was taken care of and safe, at least as safe as a unknown daughter of Aria T'Loak can be.

I documented everything I could with pictures and videos of her when she was very young but I had to get back to work, my absence had raised questions. So I had decided to keep an eye on Liselle, have the best people teach her and train her in secret, other than that though I had to keep her at arm's length.

It had been the best way to protect her given my position on Omega but as Liselle grew up I could tell she understood why I did it.

When Liselle turned a hundred she came into my office and informed me that she had been learning how to fight and wanted me to teach her about how my business worked. I laughed outright at the situation. I had been keeping my daughter at arm's length to keep her safe and she wanted to learn everything that I did for a living.

I had given it some thought, it actually hadn't been a bad idea. I was good at running Omega but if I had been trained from Liselle's age… I could only imagine what would have been accomplished.

So I taught Liselle how to fight. She was taught weapons, tactics, and the art of torture for information by Bray while I taught her how to use her biotics to the best of her advantage. In addition to that I taught Liselle how to draw out torture to make a point and provide a message for other people who may think to challenge her later in life.

I got up and picked up the clay cup Liselle made for me on Mother's Day when she was twenty-five. My daughter did very well in her studies so when I felt she was ready I told her she could enter the business and work for me.

Liselle had agreed that she was ready and moved out of my little sanctuary for her and made a life for herself out on Omega's streets. No one ever suspected that Liselle was my daughter either once she entered my ranks.

In fact Liselle made it a point to question commands a few times during her service. She even disobeyed an order her commander gave her once during a mission. She was told to stay with a cargo shipment of red sand on a shuttle that was docked at the Citadel while the rest of her squad fought off C-Sec officers, but instead she left the shuttle to help get all of her squad mates onto the shuttle. Her commander later yelled at her for insubordination and made her sit on watch duty for the next month to make a point.

My daughter did well to conceal her identity and I was very proud of her skills and intelligence. She did better than what I had expected of her and really what else could a mother want?

I sighed though and put the homemade cup back down. I needed to get my mind off of Liselle. Dwelling on the past would do nothing, I needed to think of the here and now. The past can't be changed but the present can shape the future so I needed to just focus on work and move on.

I went back to my desk and picked up a pad to take a look at profit shipments that came in recently when I heard something. I grabbed my gun out of habit and scanned the room but no one was there.

I looked at my screens and saw no one besides me and Raven where in my place so I relaxed my hold on the gun and took a closer look at my security cameras.

The noise was coming from Raven. The young girl was struggling against something in her sleep. I noticed her movements were slow and sluggish but she was indeed fighting something, and if she didn't wake up soon that arm of hers was going to hit something. I got up from my chair to wake up Raven before she caused herself more injury and that's when she began to moan in her sleep.

"Let go of me!"

She tossed and turned some more and moaned again.

"Get off me!"

I quickly left my chambers and went down the hall and palmed open Raven's door. She was a mess. Her bandages were coming apart and I saw that she was very close to falling off the bed soon.

I strode over to her and gently supported her head and torso with my arms and guided her back towards the bed but she tried to resist me.

"Nooo.."

It came out as a sob and I frowned, Raven struck me as a tough woman who could handle her own but this display was showing me a different side to the young human. Whatever she was dreaming about was causing her a great deal of stress, but that wasn't my problem.

So I hit the light switch near the bed and the lights came on.

"Raven." I gently shook her, "Raven wake up."

Her body jerked and she gasped like she wasn't getting enough air. The sheets were stuck to her body every which way and she was shaking like a leaf.

Raven tried to struggle out of my grasp but I kept a firm grip on her, couldn't risk her getting more injuries.

"Calm down. You're still in my quarters."

She took a few deep breaths and I could tell she was trying to subdue her shaking, but it wasn't going over well.

Raven sat up all the way and swung her legs over the bed, then she put some distance between us.

"Sorry boss." She mumbled. She tried to cross her arms but due to her injuries that wasn't going to be possible and she grunted in pain from the motion.

I stood up and nodded, "I hope there will be no more of these outbursts tonight."

Raven didn't speak, she just nodded and went back to the bed. On my way out I said, "We'll need to change your bandages in the morning too." Then I left her room and I went back into my own room to sleep. I turned the lights off when I slipped into my bed and my last thought was about Liselle before I closed my eyes and went to sleep.


	3. Chapter 3 Doctor's Orders

Chapter 3

Doctor's Orders

**Raven's P.O.V.**

**0800 hours**

I woke up feeling like shit. I'm not used to sleeping on a soft bed and I didn't exactly have very pleasant dreams. Then my brain actually remembered what happened last night and I swore softly as I hid my face behind my good hand. _Of all the times to have nightmares and I just HAD to have one last night?! _

Every once in a while I get bad dreams, just some bad memories of my childhood. I usually don't think about them so the nightmares are very rare. I frowned as I tried to think about whether or not if I had been thinking about it at all lately. I don't remember discerning about it, I was too busy finding a job here on the station and then keeping it once I got one.

I groaned, of all people to witness me in that state, Aria T'Loak was the very _last _person I wanted to see that! I remember I had been in the dream and all of a sudden I was ripped out of it. My boss's face loomed over mine and I was still panicked from what I had seen so I didn't register her face was in front of mine at first.

_His eyes were muddled and he reached for a kitchen knife. My heart felt like it would burst out of my chest. _

The next thing I know I'm gasping for breath and someone's telling me to more or less get a grip on myself, that someone just happened to be my hard core, bad ass, boss. _Great. The last thing I need is for my boss to think I'm suffering PTSD from what happened the other day at that old mine shaft. _

I rubbed my hand over my face and sighed. There's nothing I can do about it now. The best thing to do is act like it never happened, maybe Aria won't bring it up. Or maybe she'll say something like "It's probably best if we find you different work". God forbid she tells me to see a shrink. _Fuck that! _I ain't doing that for anybody, not even Aria T'Loak the Pirate Queen. Even if a gun is held to my head I am NOT seeing someone who will try to tell me that what happened to me was "unfortunate and we'll do everything we can to work through this together" Pft! Give me a break! They don't know what I went through, how the hell can they help me if they didn't go through it themselves! It's a bunch of bullshit. It does no good and they can't change what happened so why the hell do it?

If Aria mentions waking me up I'll just pretend it didn't happen and we'll see where it goes from there. _Well, I guess I can't stall anymore. Better get up and see if the boss needs anything._

So with that I got out of bed and noticed that some clothes were laid out for me, there was a note next to it.

Try these on. They should fit.

I held up the shirt with my good hand. It was navy blue down the front and back but the sides and sleeves were black. The sleeves were rolled and pinned up with a thick white strap on each arm, and they were all held in place with two large buttons. The sleeves and sides of the shirt were soft to the touch, but the front and back of the shirt seemed to be stiffer and padded. I probed the padded parts of the shirt; it was a gun vest sewed into the shirt. _Damn this is high grade. _

I put the shirt down and held up the pants. They were ordinary looking black cargo pants. They had big pockets, I was a fan of big pockets; I could carry more useful things on me when the pockets were larger. It had the regular front pockets and two large back pockets on the butt that zipped up. On the sides were two more large pockets. One was located on the outer thigh and the second one sat just above the knee.

I slipped into the pants with ease, all I had to do was pull them on one pant leg at a time and do the butt swivel dance. The shirt was another story. I carefully took the sling strap off and guided my left arm through the sleeve until it sat on my shoulder. I then put my other arm through the next sleeve and shimmed the garment over my head and down my torso.

I strained my injured shoulder a few times and seethed each time it happened, it motivated me to go slower as I put the shirt on. Eventually when the task was done I put the sling strap back on and put on some white and blue leather boots that stopped just below the knee. The clothes fit pretty well. Did Aria give me some of her old things or did she order me clothes?

Maybe it's best not to know, it was entirely possible that these clothes came from someone she killed. People who kill as much as Aria does usually keep trophies, I wouldn't be surprised if this was some kind of trophy. I shook my head, the clothes fit and that's all that the hardest task of the day done I left the room and took a right down the hall toward the living room and kitchen area. I heard the sound of bacon sizzling and the smell of French toast hit my nose. _What the hell? _I cautiously looked around the corner to see Bray flipping over some bacon slices. I walked further into the room to investigate.

"What's all this Bray?"

Bray turned around and put two slices of French toast on each plate. Two glasses of juice sat next to them.

"Aria says she didn't show you much of the pad before you went to bed last night. I got here early for debriefing, you slept a long time and I got hungry. So I'm making food." He pointed a spatula at me, "Don't just stand there kid. Eat up."

I slid into a chair and picked up a fork with my right hand, it felt so weird. I cut into the French toast with difficulty and ate it. Bray finished cooking the bacon and set the plate in between the two of us. He sat down and started eating too. He watched me go another round with the fork and gave me this look.

"Did you hurt your right arm too?"

I shook my head and determinedly finished cutting up another bite of French toast and chewed it with syrup.

"No, I'm left handed and I can't use that arm right now."

Bray chuckled and grabbed his fork and knife and proceeded to grab my plate.

"It's fine Bray." I began to pull my plate away from him but he just plucked it out of my hands.

"You need to hurry up and eat. We're going to Solus Clinic to have the doc look you over." With that he began to cut up my food and my ego got majorly bruised.

"You shot that vorcha with your right hand. Are you ambidextrous?"

Bray gave me back my plate and I started eating again with more vigor. "Yeah I am for most things but eating and writing are the only two things I didn't teach myself to do with my right hand."

I shoveled the French toast down and started to munch on the bacon. It had a little bit of crunch to it, I like it when it crunches a little. "This is good Bray. Thanks."

Bray nodded and cleared his plate from the kitchen island. "No problem. After your check up I need to head to Afterlife and meet up with Aria. Noleena offered to keep an eye on you today."

I finished the bacon and sucked down the juice, then I got up and brought my dishes over to the dish washer. Bray took the dishes from me and put them in, then closed the door.

"Is Noleena not working today?"

"No and it turns out Noleena is a medical student. She says keeping an eye on you will be good practice for her."

I gave Bray a look like _She's a what! _Bray shooed his hands at me to keep moving and he opened the door.

"Is Noleena dancing to put herself through school?"

Bray shook his head and smiled as we neared the hover car, it was red with black windows. He opened the doors for me and I sat down in the passenger seat.

"Naw. Noleena comes from a family with money. She's doing the gig because she likes it. Says its good life experience and very exciting."

Huh, I guess I learned something new about Noleena. Bray closed the doors and lifted us off the platform. He merged into sky traffic and took a few turns to get us to the Lower Wards. We parked the hover car when we reached the Lower Ward district and set out on foot, it's the only way to reach Solus Clinic when it's not a medical emergency. After Mordin died his one-time assistant Daniel named the building after him. Daniel died a century back but a picture of him and the good doctor hangs behind the front desk for all to see.

Bray walked on my left side and I caught a few people giving me sideways glances as we passed by. Word must have got out that someone tried to off Aria. A lot of people get really uncomfortable when you look them directly in the eyes here on Omega. I didn't like being stared at so I gave them my best no nonsense face and they immediately dropped their eyes and hurried away.

"So have people started talking already?"

Bray nodded and led me down a side corridor, "Aria is practically the life force on this station. People have been saying they're relieved that their ruler is still alive. A lot of people on this station still remember what it was like when it had been under Cerberus control."

I kicked a pebble as we took a winding turn down the stairs at the end of the corridor. Bray and I didn't exactly talk much when I was a bouncer. He and I would just make eye contact and nodded in each other's general direction at the start of my shift and again at the end. A few times we gave each other the _I'll back you up if there's trouble _look, but that only happened on three separate occasions. After I was offered the job to work with Bray's crew I started to talk to him some more.

He's a great teacher, I wasn't expecting that from him since he spoke so little to me before I joined his crew. He's seen a lot of battle too, he kept giving me tips and advice while we were in the middle of a gun fight when one of our missions went south. I was very surprised that he just kept on giving his awareness lecture during the gun fight. He just raised his voice louder so I could hear him over the ricochet of bullets. I had respected Bray before we started working together but after that gunfight my respect for him jumped up a few notches.

"Why do civilians get worried if someone challenges Aria?"

"Because Aria lets people maintain their free will. They choose what they want to do on this station. They can stay or leave, no one makes them stay here."

I nodded at Bray's answer even though I didn't agree with his last statement. I ended up stuck on this station and the tickets to get off are very expensive, but I could see why people would get so antsy when someone tries to take Aria's throne from her. If she ever lost her position, the next ruler or rulers may not be as kind as Aria. They could invoke taxes, rules, ransack any place they wanted and frisk people in the process. Better to keep someone like Aria in power as long as possible.

We reached the clinic and the doors slid open. Inside was the front desk and two waiting areas on either side of the desk. As we checked in and sat down I couldn't help but think of what may happen when Aria is gone. Is Aria grooming someone to take over her throne when she can't maintain her seat anymore? Or is it anyone's fair game?

I shuddered a bit at that last thought. If it was anyone's game then things could get really ugly. I decided the best way to avoid that situation was to keep Aria alive as long as possible. My original plan was to save up enough money to rent at a decent place and then save some more money on the side to get a ticket off this station.

But now I'm working for one of the most powerful people in the galaxy and get paid well, now that I think about it I'll probably be paid a lot better working for Aria then I ever would working in Council Space. Yeah, best to stick here.

The waiting room had some old beat up chairs here and there, but overall most of them were in good condition and very sturdy. The lighting was dim, it keeps patients relaxed since they have to wait a while before being attended to. Not to mention dim lighting kept kids calm. Lots of kids get scared when they have to go to the doctor so the front desk people and the nurse give them candy when they come in for their checkups; it keeps them happy most of the time.

The door off to my right slid open and a human nurse with blonde hair wearing a grey medical suit came out.

"Raven?"

Bray held up his hand to get her attention and she walked over.

"Raven the doctor will see you now."

Bray and I stood up and followed the nurse through the door and down the hallway, then we took a right turn. The examination room was open and the nurse gestured for me to sit down on the patient table.

"Doctor Arcane will see you shortly." Then she turned on her heel and left us alone in the room.

Bray leaned up against the wall and looked around, so did I. It's a habit you develop once you become part of any security detail. You take in all your surroundings, look for all the exits, judge what objects can be used as weapons or shields. Memorize the people in the room, size them up to see how well you think you could take them in a fight, etc.

I noted that the room was clean, sterile, and painted gray as opposed to the regular white you see in most hospital rooms. In one corner there was a terminal, another had a standing cabinet most likely filled with medicine but it was locked. I noticed there was also a mobile medi-gel station in the room and a mobile micro-surgical station XF-340 stood nearby.

"When we brought you in the doc had to use the ultra sound machine to release the medi-gel your suit ejected onto your skin, said something about high frequencies break down the medi-gel's formation to the body."

I eyed the ultra sound station that sat next to the medi-gel station and I silently thanked whatever god was listening for the care I had received.

"So what happened exactly Bray?"

He opened his mouth but a turian walked in closing the door behind him.

"An excellent question Miss Raven. My name is Dr. Borais Arcane, I treated you the other night."

He shook hands with me and immediately started to take my vitals with his omni-tool.

"Your blood pressure is still low but it's doing better. Ah I am afraid you tested positive for one of the toxin scans I submitted your blood too as well, it came from your suit when it melted against your skin from the incendiary round. Could you breathe in for me?"

_Damn _this_ guy can multi task._ I obliged and took a deep breath in and let it out when he told me to. He then began taking scans of my shoulder as he talked.

"You'll need to take some antibiotics to flush the toxins from your body. It may have already started causing an infection. Your shoulder will have to stay immobile for at least three weeks before you can do physical therapy."

I made a face, blood toxins and being three weeks immobile? Medicine has gotten really good in the past fifty years don't get me wrong but three weeks sounded like forever. Then I got to thinking about what medicine used to be like. Fifty years ago it used to be a month or two before you could start physical therapy for stuff like this. It could have been worse though.

If I were living in the 2000's instead of the 2200's I would be out for six months if not more; to top it all off the doctor would have said there would be a chance I'd never truly recover from the gunshot. Now _that _is a scary thought. If my shoulder never did heal all the way I'd probably have to give up this job and then I'd really be screwed. I sighed and resigned myself to the doctor's timeline. Three weeks was better than six months any day, and even better than giving up the total use of my left shoulder.

Dr. Arcane's mandibles quivered several times, it's the equivalent to a human smile. He projected my arm's scans for me and Bray to see. It had been broken in two places in my forearm._ No wonder I passed out. _

"The good news about your arm is that I already fused your breaks with the XF-340. Don't try to use that arm yet though since your shoulder is out of commission."

_What! If he fused the breaks in my arm then why can't my shoulder get fixed?! _

"I'm sorry Dr. Arcane I'm confused. What do you mean my arm is healed?"

Dr. Arcane chuckled and shook his head, "You've never broken a bone before?"

I shook my head no and he sat down in a black sleek looking chair. He crossed one leg over the other and looked me over.

"That's actually surprising given your work ethic. Sounds like you had a good track record. Well you see your arm is not exactly healed yet. What I did was line your arm back to where it's supposed to be. Then I used Zoralax, it's a type of reconstruction glue that can fuse your bones back together. The best way to describe it would be to think of 21st century sewing. When you thread the needle back and forth through ripped cloth you slowly start to see the rip get smaller and smaller until it is mended again. Zoralax does the same thing. It more or less regrows your bone marrow and seals itself back up, but it does take time. It can go anywhere between a few days to a few weeks depending on the break. If your arm had been fractured the breaks would have healed within a matter of three days, but since you actually broke the bone it'll more likely take three weeks."

Dr. Arcane made eye contact with me to make sure I was understanding his explanation.

"So your recovery time actually works out pretty great. Your shoulder's mobility and arm more or less take about the same time to recover. But- " Dr. Arcane held up a finger, "- due to the muscular damage you sustained from the bullet, the fragments of the bullet itself when it shattered, and the chemical burns that resulted from the bullet's chemical makeup, your shoulder will need more time to heal. In three weeks' time you can start range of mobility exercises. Overall I think we're looking at one month minimum for you to recover, and that's IF you don't over use your arm and IF you actually rest and IF you don't rush through your physical therapy."

Bray smirked as I turned bright red at Dr. Arcane's words. I'm not a very patient person when I get hurt. I tend to feel antsy and restless, which leads to me pushing my boundaries and testing my limits. As an athlete and mercenary those are admirable traits to have, as a patient I'm sure Dr. Arcane would find it very distasteful. Bray cleared his throat and my eyes strayed over to him.

"I may have mentioned that you have aggressive and competitive tendencies."

I sneered at him and he actually chuckled. Then he shrugged like my thoughts on the matter were trivial while his and Dr. Arcane's thoughts were better intended than mine, and they probably were as much as I hate to admit it. Dr. Arcane got up from his chair and brought over the mobile medi-gel station. He swiveled the station so it stood at my shoulder level and he gently took me out of my sling.

"Your scars may fade over time but I can't be sure."

As he said that I saw my skin for the first time since the fight. My skin was a variety of colors. It was black, blue, red, and green. The black and blue was just massive bruising with green splotches in between. My skin had angry red vines that stood out stark against the black, blue, and green background. It looked kind of like a dark piece of art, except for the part where this wasn't a tattoo.

Bray whistled when he saw my shoulder and Dr. Arcane got the medi-gel dispenser ready.

"Medi-gel is a great moisturizing application. Your skin for the most part is retaining fluids but I'd like for you to apply medi-gel every three days to keep the moisture locked in and to make sure that infection doesn't sneak in."

I nodded and Dr. Arcane administered some medi-gel to my shoulder. With that done Dr. Arcane put fresh bandages on me and said I could give myself self-administered applications of medi-gel at home. Bray and I said farewell to the good doctor and left Solus Clinic. When Bray brought me back to Aria's pad Noleena was waiting for us on the couch.

"Hey Bray. So how did the appointment go?"

I sat down on the couch with Noleena as Bray washed his hands at the kitchen sink.

"Better than I thought. Doc says Raven may heal within a month if she's careful of her shoulder. In three weeks she can begin physical therapy. He also said unless Raven experiences a lot of pain during physical therapy the bullet fragments stay in her shoulder."

Noleena gave me a warm smile, "That sounds like good news to me. It could have been a lot worse."

I nodded in agreement and waved as Bray headed for the door.

"See ya Bray."

He grunted in response and the door slid closed behind him. I turned my attention back to Noleena and looked her over. Noleena had dark blue skin with a purple ting underneath. I read somewhere that purple tinges normally meant there was hanar blood in one or both of the parents. Aria's father was hanar so she looked more violet than Noleena's skin did. Her fringe had white spots at the base and gradually turned into lighter blue speckles running along her cartilage tips. Her eyes of all things were green and they were a startling contrast with the rest of her coloring.

That was her best asset and she used it to her advantage in Afterlife. I've seen plenty of men ogle at the girls in the club before; asari are very attractive. But when Noleena worked on her platform the guys would go stock still and seemed to lay down roots. They were a lot like trees when she performed. You couldn't move them unless you took a hose to em.

She was wearing a feminine top and nice black slacks. Her top was a light lavender and it was made of satin. Her shoes were kicked off and strewn about on the floor. In terms of age Noleena was still in her maiden stage. I don't know exactly how old she is but I know among her people she is considered a young adult. Noleena cleared her throat and put her legs up onto the coffee table.

"So how are you feeling Raven?"

_My arm feels heavy, stiff, and itchy. It's like it won't feel better until I move it. But if I do it'll just hurt and I'll be set back in my recovery. Ugh! _I screamed internally about that. I hate not being able to fully function. Damn this is going to be a long couple of weeks.

"I feel like my shoulder has a lot of pressure built up but I know if I move it it'll just hurt like hell so I'm resisting the urge to rotate my shoulder. Other than that I guess I'm okay."

Noleena nodded in empathy to my words.

"I'm sure it's driving you crazy. You never could stay still for long at the club."

"Yeah. I'd feel weird if I just stood there like the krogan do. I can't see everything if I just stay in one spot. Besides standing around is so _boring_. The krogan are the kind that like to take action. So why do they just stand there leaning against the walls like that?"

Noleena laughed, "Maybe they don't know how to dance."

That cracked a smile out of me. "Yeah I bet you're right. It'd be great to see someone like Urdnat Wrex break loose on the dance floor though."

Noleena and I broke out laughing and tears came out of our eyes as we tried to imagine the famous Urdnat Wrex vigorously shake his tail out on the dance floor. Once my laughing subsided I looked back to Noleena and smiled at her.

"Thanks for doing this. I didn't exactly feel like I could let loose around here."

Noleena took in the apartment's decor and nodded, "Yeah Aria's place seems a bit…sterile. I can see why you'd feel awkward, and it's not like Bray is much for conversation without a drink in hand."

I snorted. She knew Bray and I talked but that was a very new occurrence.

"And how often does he drink?"

"Psh! Almost never. He should loosen up once in a while. One of these days he won't remember how to laugh I swear."

I smirked at her response and Noleena caught on. "You didn't!"

"Oh but I did."

"How?"

"The doctor was telling me to take it easy or else and Bray said he told the doc what I was like. I sneered at him and he laughed at me."

Noleena's eyes grew wide and she looked thoroughly impressed. I put my legs up on the coffee table and heaved a content sigh. It was kind of nice to relax and just talk to somebody.

"So Noleena you're a medical student huh."

Noleena blushed and looked down. "Yeah. I start doing my internship this summer so taking care of you is kind of like a warm up for that."

I grinned, "Oh I see so I'm your test subject."

She gave me a sly smile in return, "Something like that."

I was thinking of other things to talk about when Noleena got up from the couch. She held out her hand to me and I took it. She hauled me up and I gave her a questioning look.

"I never thought I would ever see Aria's private home. What do you say we poke around?"

"Is that really a good idea?"

"She said you could stay here right? I think that's invitation enough to look around. Besides-" She swept her arm out toward the kitchen, "-you have an excuse for why you started poking around."

I wasn't sure it was the best idea but Noleena can be very persuasive, and by persuasive I mean she started opening up the cupboards in the kitchen before I could give an answer. I rolled my eyes and joined her as she began to paw at the different asari and human cuisine Aria had stocked on her shelves. This stuff all looked really healthy, better than anything I've ever had in my life in fact. I munched on a Nutria bar as we continued to poke around the kitchen and off handedly I thought _If Aria gets pissed I'm blaming you Noleena and I'll sing like a canary._


End file.
